Pittwater Artists Trail – Winter Group Exhibition 2017 At Newport

Pittwater Artists Trail – Winter Group Exhibition By Kylie Ferguson

Well I can’t believe it has been a year since I attended the last Pittwater Artists Trail – Winter Group Exhibition, and I have to say, yet again what a wonderful night of artistic talent.

I am always blown away by the length and breadth of talent in this community, featuring works from both established artists as well as emerging artists, and it’s always a pleasure to see new and upcoming talent.

On exhibition were paintings, sculpture, eco-dyed fabrics, stunning jewellery, mosaics and glassware. There was something for everyone!

Kylie Ferguson with wearable art artist Debi Dassonville

Opening night was Friday night 9th of June with celebratory glasses of bubbles, wine and nibbles, and some inspirational words from Katherine Roberts, curator at the Manly Art Gallery and Museum, and a long term supporter of the Pittwater Artists Trail.

Pittwater Artists Trail – Opening speech by Katherine Roberts

9 June, 2017

Manly Art Gallery & Museum is delighted to support the Pittwater Artists Trail this year and I am very pleased to be here tonight to help celebrate the 7th anniversary of this fantastic initiative.

I would like to acknowledge Linda Haigh who founded the Pittwater Artists Trail who here this evening. Key organisers this year, Penel Bigg and Vicki Ratliff, are also to be congratulated for driving this project.

The Pittwater Artists Trail is part of a strong tradition of open studio, gallery and outdoor artist trails around Australia; including the Blue Mountains Arts Trail, Broken Hill Art and Sculpture trail, Manly’s Open Studios program as part of the Manly Arts Festival, and the Brim silo art project in Victoria.

Congratulations to the 18 artists participating in this iteration of the ever-evolving artist trail in Pittwater. The Pittwater Artists Trail has been one of the great visual arts success stories on the Northern Beaches. It was born from a passion to bring our community of artists together under one umbrella, to showcase their works and provide a genuine ‘behind the scenes’ experience for the community and arts audiences of the often elusive but always-alluring artist studio.

The Northern Beaches has a long and proud history of support for artists. Manly Art Gallery & Museum was the 3rd regional gallery established in NSW in 1924 and its collection and exhibitions have grown significantly over the years. While formerly only funded by Manly Council, and by Arts NSW annually, MAG&M has always reached beyond its LGA boundary and regarded itself as the regional gallery for the Northern Beaches. It presents visual art and social history exhibitions drawn from within the community and beyond, and plays a key role in the cultural advocacy and cultural tourism for this area.

If you aren’t already, I would urge all of you to become members of Manly Art Gallery & Museum Society to remain connected with your regional gallery which presents such a fascinating and diverse range of exhibitions, which will continue to inspire and nourish your own creativity.

The much-anticipated announcement recently by Northern Beaches Council about the establishment of a permanent creative space for Pittwater is music to the ears of many advocates across the community who want to see art and culture continue to grow in this area. We all look forward to being part of its planning and its activation.

The creativity of artists never ceases to amaze me and it has been such a privilege to work as a curator in this region, getting to know many of you and your artwork through your participation in local exhibitions, projects, prizes and festivals.

Many of the artworks in this exhibition, as you would expect, are inspired by the local environment, the landscape real and imagined. The artists represented here work across glass, textiles, jewellery, ceramics, printmaking and painting.

Represented in this exhibition and artist trail are;

-art teachers,

-current and former students of the ceramics department at Northern Sydney Institute TAFE Brookvale,

-Artists who were members of the former Pittwater Community Arts organisation

-Artists who exhibit locally, nationally and internationally,

-Artists who have been drawn to Pittwater from Austria, England and Canada,

-Artists who are building retail and gallery profiles,

-Artists who work to commissions,

-And artists extending their practices by working across media.

I would like to congratulate each of the artists by name;

Penel Bigg

Debi Dassonville

Brenda Coleman

Ingrid Bowen

Tricia Trinder

Vicki Ratcliff

Takako Warton

Ron Tuck

Kay Runcie

Fiona Verity

Mark Kingston

Claire Armstrong

Evan Armstrong

Tabatha Higgins

Helen Mackay

Coco Elder

Katarina Wells

Nicola Woodcock

Thank you for helping to make this cultural community strong, visible and vocal, and for sharing your creativity with us all. We support you and we thank you. I invite everyone to keep an eye on the Pittwater Artist Trail website, visit the artists in their studios in October or March and purchase an original work of art this weekend.

I am delighted to open this exhibition and hope it goes well for you all.

Katherine Roberts - curator at MAG&M

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So if you have some time over the long weekend, head on down to the Newport Community Centre, see what talent we have on display and mingle with the artists.

The 2017 Winter Exhibition by the Pittwater Artists Trail creatives continues Sunday 11 June 10am – 3pm and culminating on Monday 12 June 10am – 3pm. With food, market stalls and music to enjoy all this Queen's Birthday long weekend, a visit to the Newport Community Centre (11-13 The Boulevarde ) will brighten what is a damp dull weekend - you may even find something unique among the works to permanently brighten a space in your home!